5 ms·

Ask HN: Is it possible to get a job at Facebook without going to ivy league?

7 points by _RPM 12y ago

One of my dream jobs is to work at Facebook. I didn't go to an Ivy League school, but I'm about to have my CS degree from a public university. I am self-taught developer as well.

SamReidHughes 12y ago
Facebook hires a number of Stanford people and that's not an Ivy League school.
- flylib 12y ago
  Stanford has a better CS program then any Ivy League school so that's not a surprise
damnmachine 12y ago
Just like Google, I'm sure they only admit the best of the best. However, if the skills, creativity, and out-of-box thinking that they desire are present, it shouldn't matter where you went to school. You either have "it" or you don't.
davidalves 12y ago
Yes, it's possible. Source: I went to San Jose State University and I'm a software engineer at Facebook. :)
Slizyboy 12y ago
I went to CMU and am a software engineer at Facebook. Out of curiosity, why do you think that having an Ivy League degree is necessary? Is there anything we did to convey that impression, or anything we can do to combat it preemptively?
- _RPM 12y ago
  Well, I just have noticed that many people have gone to Stanford or Harvard, you know big name schools. I don't have hard data, but thanks for the comment :)
  - throwaway344 12y ago
    Just as a quick note, Stanford isn't an Ivy. The ivies are Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, and Yale.
- samfisher83 12y ago
  CMU is one of the best schools for CS so...
akuhn 12y ago
Hello. I am an engineer at Facebook. My CS degree is from a small school. Our CS department had 5 professors and 50 graduates per year. One of our cafes on campus is called "Living the Dream". That is the kind of people we are looking for. We hire by talent not by school. That said, keep living your dream!
fbguy 12y ago
I attended University of Illinois (also a public university) and dropped out, and I'm an engineer at Facebook. :)
mrcorey 12y ago
I have a non-technical BS from Ithaca College, did my graduate work in social science, and do research at Facebook. It is a wonderfully heterogeneous place.
mfdutra 12y ago
I'm a drop out from a 3rd world country and I'm an engineer at Facebook. I'm also an interviewer, an trust me guys. We really don't care where and if you graduated. If you are good, you are in.
- _RPM 12y ago
  Did you create an account to answer this question?
  - mfdutra 12y ago
    Yeah, I didn't have one, I guess. I was hoping to get notifications from this thread, but no. :-(
sangkancilguru 12y ago
You can do better than work at Facebook. It is now a big company with all the travails of Corporate Tech America, on the same levels of Ebay and Google.
- krapp 12y ago
  Well, the 'pro' arguments are that these companies you named probably pay well, involve working on interesting and cutting edge technologies, and, having one on your resume would guarantee consideration for jobs in the future. The cons are, what... they're not tiny startups which no one will even remember a year after they're gone?
devanti 12y ago
I know several engineers at Facebook. None of them went to an ivy league school
27182818284 12y ago
Hi! Please, please, please, please, please, please, don't forget the opening text from Y Combinator:http://ycombinator.com/ad.html http://ycombinator.com/ad.html Then remember WhatsApp's founder was rejected.
- _RPM 12y ago
  Hi. I don't understand. I've read it, but can you please share some insight to what that means?
  - 27182818284 12y ago
    Whenever I see a post that is like "How do I get a job at <POPULAR_COMPANY_XYZ>" I am reminded of the fact that Google tried to sell to Yahoo before they were Google, and that the founder of WhatsApp was turned down by Facebook. I just have a feeling that you aren't interested in Facebook as much as you are in doing something interesting, which might include a new company.

7 points by _RPM 12y ago

One of my dream jobs is to work at Facebook. I didn't go to an Ivy League school, but I'm about to have my CS degree from a public university. I am self-taught developer as well.

SamReidHughes 12y ago

Facebook hires a number of Stanford people and that's not an Ivy League school.

flylib 12y ago
Stanford has a better CS program then any Ivy League school so that's not a surprise

damnmachine 12y ago

Just like Google, I'm sure they only admit the best of the best. However, if the skills, creativity, and out-of-box thinking that they desire are present, it shouldn't matter where you went to school. You either have "it" or you don't.

davidalves 12y ago

Yes, it's possible. Source: I went to San Jose State University and I'm a software engineer at Facebook. :)

Slizyboy 12y ago

I went to CMU and am a software engineer at Facebook. Out of curiosity, why do you think that having an Ivy League degree is necessary? Is there anything we did to convey that impression, or anything we can do to combat it preemptively?

_RPM 12y ago
Well, I just have noticed that many people have gone to Stanford or Harvard, you know big name schools. I don't have hard data, but thanks for the comment :)
- throwaway344 12y ago
  Just as a quick note, Stanford isn't an Ivy. The ivies are Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, and Yale.
samfisher83 12y ago
CMU is one of the best schools for CS so...

akuhn 12y ago

Hello. I am an engineer at Facebook. My CS degree is from a small school. Our CS department had 5 professors and 50 graduates per year. One of our cafes on campus is called "Living the Dream". That is the kind of people we are looking for. We hire by talent not by school. That said, keep living your dream!

fbguy 12y ago

I attended University of Illinois (also a public university) and dropped out, and I'm an engineer at Facebook. :)

mrcorey 12y ago

I have a non-technical BS from Ithaca College, did my graduate work in social science, and do research at Facebook. It is a wonderfully heterogeneous place.

mfdutra 12y ago

I'm a drop out from a 3rd world country and I'm an engineer at Facebook. I'm also an interviewer, an trust me guys. We really don't care where and if you graduated. If you are good, you are in.

_RPM 12y ago
Did you create an account to answer this question?
- mfdutra 12y ago
  Yeah, I didn't have one, I guess. I was hoping to get notifications from this thread, but no. :-(

sangkancilguru 12y ago

You can do better than work at Facebook. It is now a big company with all the travails of Corporate Tech America, on the same levels of Ebay and Google.

krapp 12y ago
Well, the 'pro' arguments are that these companies you named probably pay well, involve working on interesting and cutting edge technologies, and, having one on your resume would guarantee consideration for jobs in the future. The cons are, what... they're not tiny startups which no one will even remember a year after they're gone?

devanti 12y ago

I know several engineers at Facebook. None of them went to an ivy league school

27182818284 12y ago

Hi! Please, please, please, please, please, please, don't forget the opening text from Y Combinator:http://ycombinator.com/ad.html http://ycombinator.com/ad.html Then remember WhatsApp's founder was rejected.

_RPM 12y ago
Hi. I don't understand. I've read it, but can you please share some insight to what that means?
- 27182818284 12y ago
  Whenever I see a post that is like "How do I get a job at <POPULAR_COMPANY_XYZ>" I am reminded of the fact that Google tried to sell to Yahoo before they were Google, and that the founder of WhatsApp was turned down by Facebook. I just have a feeling that you aren't interested in Facebook as much as you are in doing something interesting, which might include a new company.